


The True Wild Card

by Chocobo_Boy_Prompto



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira is a massive asshole, Also The entire Kamoshida Arc is covered in Mona/Ryuji shit, Also guest appearances from other Persona games, And Ann, And while it'll still be one. I am getting absorbed into this plot lol, As was in the prophecy, Everyone is gay until noted otherwise, Gen, I am at fucking work y'all, I have the inkling that this may get an actual plot, I mean this was supposed to be a bit of a crackfic, I never said this WASN'T a tad self indulgent, I'm in this for the long haul, Inspired by Joker: Tales Of An Evil Mind, It is VERY though, M/M, Other, Ryuji the oblivious one, Sojiro is the uncle and ya'll can't convince me otherwise, Starring Akira the angsty one, Subtle sure as shit isn't one of them, The Morgana/Ryuji ship is immediate and potent, There are many things I am, There is no exucuse for this, There needs to be checks and balances within my mind so this doesn't become soft core porn tbh, This shit about to go up to E, Trigger Warning for various kinds of abuse, Until a month from now when I lose all desire to fulfill this fic, Yet I offer no apologies, You could say..., You'll Never See It Coming, all of this on a work PC, but afterwards we shall ascend to Akira being a massive asshole, oh yeah, okay, that's where I write this shit at, the one tasked with hooking up all her friends who are clearly smitten with one another
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:14:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21972682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocobo_Boy_Prompto/pseuds/Chocobo_Boy_Prompto
Summary: For anyone wondering, no, this story is NOT permanently on Hiatus, I just stumbled into writers block on this one, as well as life getting in the way, I'll continue this when I can get past this stump.
Relationships: Mishima Yuuki/Persona 5 Protagonist, Mishima Yuuki/Sakamoto Ryuji, Morgana/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	1. A Blonde, A Criminal, And A Cat Walk Into A Castle...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first half of the Kamoshida Palace Arc goes as smoothly as a sandpaper back massage and Akira wouldn't accept it any other way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as of now, I have about 4,000 words down on this, and I plan on having a minimum of 2,000 words per chapter, and when I get deeper into this story, I plan on consolidating several chapters into 1, that is, if I get as much as I want written down, I will also announce any edits, as I did skim through a lot of this stuff, because padding for word count isn't a strong point.

Shujin Academy, Akira had ended up  _ here _ of all places. He just shrugged to himself, as if forcing himself to accept fate, and who could say he wouldn’t have fun this year. Well, everything seemed to point it that way when the school cosplayed as a castle for the day, it didn’t help that the blonde delinquent was flat broke, talk about bad luck. But, not to be defeated, the pair made their way into the castle, whereupon, Ryuji got this shit beaten out of him, and Akira simply watched, honestly, the display was so pathetic he didn’t have the heart to cheer on the soldiers, at that point it felt like bullying, and it wasn’t fun if Akira wasn’t the one dishing out the bullying, so he was patient as the guards beat the delinquent down, and even more patient as they lead the boys to the cell they were to be held in. Once they got there, Akira took the bed, and when Ryuji tried to force himself onto one half of the bed, Akira lashed out, slamming his elbow into Ryuji’s side, forcing the boy onto the ground.

Ryuji couldn’t even reply, as he was too busy crying from how bad the elbowing hurt him. But the same guards from before had returned, with a new member among them, a man with a kingly robe, with nothing else but a speedo on, a spitting image of perfection. Akira admired a man confident in his physique, but there was one thing he didn’t like, and that was the fact that this man had him held up in a dungeon. Oh boy, did he  _ really _ not like that. The blonde boy and this ‘Kamoshida’ were arguing, and Kamoshida gave the order to have Ryuji killed. Akira was all for murdering teens and kids, but this one was one crime he’d have to step in to prevent. This was because of one thing, the victim. Ryuji, some violent brute, was the closest thing Akira could find to a second founding member of his up and coming gang, The Phantom Thieves.

The anger and resentment flared within Akira, and everyone turned to see bright flames of blue spurring behind him, as well as a man with a top hat, and red attire, he was also some kind of demon. The self proclaimed ‘Pillager Of Twilight’ instructed the would be crime boss in the art of battle, which the ravenette mumbled about being useless, but he went along with the demon, and wound up slaughtering all those that stood before the two Shujin High School boys. Akira let Kamoshida live, letting it be a warning, a gracious, benevolent choice Akira didn’t usually give out to his enemies, but Akira was a simple man, and damn did that speedo look good, he reminded himself to go out shopping for one later, but they needed to escape, as Akira could feel his spirit waning. As they ran, a youthful voice called after them.

“Hey, blondie! Frizzy hair!” 

They both stopped to look around, in Akira’s mind, he was ready to kill the being that had that childish voice, to Ryuji, he wanted to save them, not wanting them to have to endure any more of Kamoshidas torture.

“Hey! Down here!”

They both looked down and to their left, in the cell parallel to the boys, was this big headed cat, jumping, trying to gather their attention.

Akira sighed, already sensing the cat was going to bark an order, he shook his head

“Nu-uh, we’re good, come on blonde boy, we have an escape to get back to”. The cat looked on in shock, and so did Ryuji

“Come on man! You guys  _ need _ me! Blondie knows it, and you could never get out on your own!” Akira sighed and said

“Now what on earth possessed you to believe that? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how to operate a drawbridge,  _ maaybe _ there’s a switch somewhere? Maybe it has to do with the out of place statue  **right next to the bridge?!** , just a thought of course, DO YOU HONESTLY THINK I AM THAT FUCKING DENSE?!” Akira shouted at the cat in absolute rage, beyond insulted that he was presumed to be more stupid than a toddler. Morgana shrunk back in shame, and he was terrified of the escapees that he had come across.

“P-please! I’m begging you, please save me!” Ryuji looked over to his partner and muttered

“Dude… S’not costing us anything, we should help it out, if you won’t, I will”. There was a moral dilemma here, help out this cat, wasting his time, OR, lose his partner in crime, Akira took a few seconds, before relenting, it was all for his criminal empire, you gotta take a small hit for a large payoff, or at least that’s what he was told. So he sighed, nodded and snatched the keys from where they lay, on top of damn table, security wasn’t this guy’s strong suit, and it was showing. He tossed them towards Ryuji and Ryuji caught it, immediately getting to work on the lock. Once Morgana was freed, they all fled from there, and they made their way to the exit. After they pried the vent off the wall, Morgana turned to Ryuji

“Thank you so much Blondie! Oh man, I would’a died without you there!” Ryuji chuckled and felt his face heat up from the compliment

“No problem Morgana, oh, and you can call me Ryuji, s’all fine! I guess we’re goin’ our separate ways? Good luck to you then!” To which Morgana nodded happily, bidding Ryuji farewell, and scampering off.

Akira felt his gut pool with disgust 

_ ‘Why wasn’t I thanked?! I grabbed the damn keys! Bastard is  _ **_really_ ** _ like a cat’ _ . Akira thought to himself as they exited the unknown world.

After school, Ryuji met up with Akira on the school rooftop to discuss their adventures in the weird castle earlier. Akira didn’t care too much, as evidenced by Akira rarely talking, instead, relying on Ryuji talking and coming up with coked up conspiracies. This led to the two of them returning to that world the next day, whereupon, they were met with Morgana, who was not too pleased at the prospect of being alongside Akira, but reluctantly accepted Ryuji’s pleas to lead them to the cells where the students were at.

The adventure was pretty boring, up until Ryuji awakened his own Persona, and seeing the cat also have a Persona gave Akira a sinister plan, his new gang just got 2 free members.

As they were leaving, Morgana requested their help to recover his memories, a request Akira laughed out the door

“We saved you and now  _ you _ want to ask us for more?! Nope, nope, nopity nope”. Ryuji looked unsure at the request, and Morgana put on the water works

“Please Ryuji! Please! I need someone to help me! I-I’ll do anything!” That gave Akira pause

“You said  _ anything _ ?” Akira asked, with a smirk and a sinister tone.

“Of course!” Morgana cried out, desperate to get any help from the other persona users. Akira smirked and said

“Aaaaaalrighty! How ‘bout this cat-”

“I’m not a cat!-”

“We’ll help you get back your shit or whatever, BUT, you owe us big time!” Morgana dropped his attitude and jumped with joy.

“Oh thank you Frizzy! I knew you’d come around, Mwehehe, I knew you’d fall for me eventually”. Morgana said, trying to boost his own ego. Akira couldn’t hide a deep, sinister chuckle as he played along with the egotistical cat.

“Oh what can I say? You’re just so irresistible,  _ Mona _ ”. Morgana stopped, blushing at the nickname. Ryuji, not really even knowing what was happening, shrugged it all away. He was happy that his two new friends were getting along.

“Well, we have to go, real world, sleep, actual school, ya’know, that sorta stuff, so we’ll be back soon, cool?” Morgana reluctantly nodded, before the two left, Akira assuring that they’d be back, he never said when, mainly because he knew Ryuji would drag him around, but not for long, he just needed to establish the gang and then they’d all fall in line behind him. 

The next few days were uneventful, aside from meeting a girl involved with the  great horrible teacher, Kamoshida, Akira shrugged it all off, hey, if she decided the stripper career was for her, who was he to judge? But then, one day,  _ it _ happened, a student named Suzui Shiho tried to jump off of the to to the Practice Building to kill herself, but there was one person who stood out. Some wimpy kid that was in Akiras class, he forgot the name of. But just seeing the bandages on the kid, he knew the boy was the type to take bullying with a smile, and that would mean that he could buy all the useless shit he wanted, without having a legitimate place of work, fucking score!

He chased the boy as he ran away, and Ryuji convinced himself that he knew something about the situation, and they ended up in a storage closet. Akira could feel his murderous impulses rising.

“Well, well, well, what a pleasant surprise we have here”. Mishima looked terrified, he knew these two, terrible delinquents.

“W-what do you w-want from me?!” Mishima shouted in fear. Ryuji was about to speak until Akira did first

“Wow, straight to business, huh? Well, some cash would be nice”. Ryuji balked at the demand

“Dude, we’re just asking about Shiho, not mugging this guy!” Akira shrugged

“Why not both? Listen here… Uh… Guy, I know you’ve got something on you, and the old game set is looking really nice, so how about it?” Mishima shook his head, muttering ‘oh no’ ‘please, not again’ and so on so forth. Mishima finally answered

“B-but all I have are the clothes on my back!-” Akira sighed and shrugged, accepting the answer.

“Okay, I could use a new pair of clothes anyways, well. Strip” Everyone looked at him in surprise

“Uh… Dude” came the reply from Ryuji

“Wait, what?! B-but-” came the shocked response from Mishima. Ryuji, determined to put an end to this insanity once and for all, asked

“Look dude, what do you know about this whole Shiho situation, you know  _ something _ , so spill it dude”. Mishima, grateful to be spared from stripping off his clothes, spilled his whole ordeal, leading Ryuji to bolt it to Kamoshidas office, whereupon it was revealed who leaked Akira’s criminal record.

“Mishima…  _ you _ leaked his criminal record?!” Ryuji asked, astonished, Akira was in shock

“Holy shit… Good one dude!” 

“I-I’m sorry!- Wait, what?” Everyone stopped to look at the grinning boy, Kamoshida was shocked into silence, this wasn’t how this was supposed to unfold at all. Akira, grinning like a kid who got all his presents early, nodded

“Dude! That was bad ass! And to think you pissed yourself just 5 minutes ago! I’m impressed you even managed that!”. Kamoshida, not to be out done spoke to the three teens.

“What won’t be bad ass is an expulsion on your record, because as of now, everyone present is expelled, I’ll report all of you at the next board meeting, your lives are forfeit”.

Mishima felt pretty bummed, first he was threatened by a violent kid, then he was praised by said kid, then he was expelled for finally breaking free from his oppression, but Akira and Ryuji were smiling.

“That was too good dude! We got him good!” Ryuji spoke, complimenting the transfer student. Akira spoke 

“What can I say? My sight is  _ always _ 20/20, he’s too easy to read”. Mishima had enough, and felt himself explode

“What are you guys talking about?! We’re screwed! We’re expelled, and all you guys can talk about is how-” Akira shushed him, and gestured to Ryuji

“Just wait till you hear this little buddy, Ryuji, please?” Ryuji nodded enthusiastically, before hitting the play button on the video recording. What they heard play back to them was  _ not _ the recording of Kamoshida threatening to expel them on ridiculous, fabricated grounds, but was a recording of their first encounter with Mishima in the storage room. Mishima was too pissed to be scared

“Seriously? We’re gonna get out of this with a recording of you bullying me out of my school clothes?”. Akira looked shocked too

“ _ Ryuji. Play. the. Video. _ ”. It was spoken in this low, threatening tone, and Ryuji paled

“U-Uh, this is all I’ve got-” Akira snapped, shocking both of the boys into fear induced silence

“ _ WHAT DO YOU MEAN?! _ Did you forget to what to record?!” Ryuji felt his clothes become several sizes too small for his liking, and it felt like it was suffocating him.

“S-sorry, I j-just forgot man!” Akira just sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fine… This is fine, great even, it would have been too easy like that, and something too easy is never fun. Alright Ryuji, time for Plan B, do you at least remember  _ that? _ ”. And Ryuji nodded enthusiastically, in Akira’s opinion, it was too enthusiastic, like he was just waiting to hear those words, it spooked Akira, 

_ ‘Ryuji isn’t… No… He’s not planning something, nothing against me anyways, we’ll deal with Kamoshida tomorrow’ _ Akira thought to himself.

“Good, we’ll talk more later, and Mishima?” Mishima snapped out of his trance

“Y-yes?” Akiras eyes narrowed at him, and Mishima could feel his heart beat a thousand times faster

“You never heard or saw anything, am I clear?” Mishima swallowed and nodded

“C-crystal”. Akira smirked, and Mishima felt his face heat up, but as soon as it had happened, it vanished, and the two boys retreated from the school, leaving Mishima alone.


	2. Wrapping Up A No Good Sports Teacher

Akira and Ryuji chose to enter the Metaverse once again, but things were off to a terrible start when another random person somehow entered, it was the girl so close to Kamoshida, Ann Takamaki. Morgana suggested they force Ann to leave, and there was no sense in arguing with the cat, so together, Ryuji and Akira threw Ann out of the Metaverse, and returned to their duties. Re-entering the castle through their tried and true escape route, they proceeded through the castle, choosing to take a different, lengthier path. They stopped by a safe room close to the main hall, where they heard a shrill scream for help, Akira paid it no mind, just wanting to murder the shadow teacher and ruin his real world self. But Ryuji and Morgana insisted on helping the girl, who may have been Ann Takamaki.

When they arrived at the chamber Ann was taken to, she was about to be executed when they barged in, interrupting the whole process. Akira saw that it was indeed Ann and sighed in annoyance

“Seriously? Just… I seriously can’t believe this”. But his annoyance was overshadowed by Ryuji voicing how happy he was that she was okay. Akira noticed how annoyed Morgana was at Ryuji being relieved at Ann being okay, so he egged him on by voicing his support.

“Yeah Ann! We’re so glad you’re okay! But you’ve gotta free yourself!” Ann looked in shock

“B-but how?!” Akira decided that this would be the perfect time for a potential third member, so he went for it.

“You can’t let this shit-head win! You’ve gotta free yourself, for what’s-her-name!” And Ann seemed to understand.

“Y-you’re right, who’ll avenger Shiho if I don’t? This can’t be the end, no, I won’t let it be!”. It seemed that the coaxing worked and she had begun the process to free herself, destroying the chains holding her hostage, before unleashing Carmen, her Persona. 

Akira smirked, his gang had 3 members in 3 days, all was going well thus far. After dispatching of the enemies in their way, they had the resolve they needed to charge through the tower

Getting closer to the treasure, Akira had decided that they had enough, and he craved sleep more than the head of a shadow of their teacher.

When they returned to the real world, they were surprised to see a cat among them, it was suspiciously closer to Ryuji rather than the rest of them, it was pouncing on Ryuji, eager to get the boy to awaken. When Ryuji finally did wake up, he met the cats excited expression with one of disgust

“Come on cat, geez, you’re the last thing I need to see”.

“Y-you don’t want to see me? Did I do something wrong?” The cat had the voice of Morgana, and Ryuji caught on too, and set out to do damage control.

“Woah! N-not at all Mona! I was just joking, ha ha ha!” Add in a couple of fake laughs and an unconvincing smile and Mona had also joined in on the terrible charade, fooling himself effortlessly, an admirable trait in sheep like him. Akira sighed and rolled his eyes. He could see Morgana eye fucking his friend and it was getting real old, real quick.

At the end of the day, Morgana needed somewhere to stay, and Akira was the first to bow out of any offer

“Uncle Sojiro would kill me for bringing in a cat, not coming here”

Ann also declined, and Morgana didn’t seem too torn up about it, and he insisted that he felt the safest with Ryuji, and after some convincing, and the fact that no one else would take the cat, Ryuji relented, allowing Morgana to jump into his arms for their journey home. And Akira really wanted that Curry, so he wasted no thoughts on the cat and his friend, nor did he about the newest recruit.

“Soji, I’m home!” Sojiro looked over to his nephew, Akira, and nodded

“I see that, what kept ya?” Akira chuckled and said

“I got a social life, unlike a certain uncle I know of” ending with a smirk, and Sojiro smirked right back at him

“Uh-huh, but who’s here all day serving you your favorite Curry, huh?” Sojiro placed the plate on the bar before lifting it away from his charge, causing him to pout like a little kid.

“Alright, alright, I get it, can I have the curry, please?” Sojiro laughed at the defeated expression before nodding and setting the plate down for real.

“Eat up, but don’t make a mess, if I have to clean up after you I’m throwing you out, ya hear?” But by that point, the boy was too ingrained into the curry he had come to love since he was a child, Sojiro chuckled to himself, and said

“Alright, I’m leaving, clean up after yourself and shut everything off, see you in the morning Akira”. To which the boy nodded eagerly, and the older man left the cafe, back to his house.

He decided that he was bored, and didn’t want to ponder his life, or make weapons at the corner craft table, he honestly wanted some sleep, fully prepared to be dragged through Kamoshidas Palace. Well, he wasn’t wrong, on that next day, they carved their way to the treasure with ease. They decided to finish the job by sending a calling card. Morgana had summed the whole thing up as them drawing the attention of the shadow of their treasure being stolen, so it would materialize and allow itself to be stolen.

Ryuji volunteered to write the card, which immediately got the support of Morgana, but Ann was still skeptical. Akira wanted to see how bad it could go, majority for Ryuji, so they went ahead with him being the writer of the letter, Morgana promising to keep an eye on Ryuji, so technically would write together. But there was just one issue, they needed a name to go by, and Akira couldn’t have been more happy to offer up a name

“How about… The Phantom Thieves”. Eyeing his teammates, they all seemed to nod in approval, except-

“I couldn’t think of a wo-” Ryuji cut the cat off

“That’s a great name dude!” Morgana shifted his tune likewise

“R-right?! I couldn’t think of a better name!” Subtlety was not Morgana’s strong suit, but if anyone else noticed his mid-sentence change in opinion, no one else mentioned it, in fact, they didn’t even change expressions. Akira decided not to call Morgana out on the hypocrisy, instead, waiting to hear from Ann, who seemed like she was desperate to get a word in.

“But wait, shouldn’t a leader get to decide the name? Are we leaderless?” Akira shook his head, with a smirk

“Of course not, I nominate myself as leader of the Phantom Thieves!”. Immediately there were issues with his proposal.

“You can’t just claim to be a leader, we need a vote!” Ann cried

“I can think of another person who could be a better leader, n-no offense Akira” Morgana sheepishly declared, eyeing Ryuji, probably preparing to rescind his declaration if Ryuji disagreed with him in any way. Ryuji shrugged, before turning to the other two.

“Akira’s the only reason I’m alive, one wrong move and I could’ve died, He’s the one leading the crusade against Kamoshida, he stood by me when no one else would… I know I wouldn’t last in a leader position, was always a support guy. If I had to cast a vote for anyone, it’d be this slick bastard right here!” He patted Akira on the shoulder, giving him a bright smile. Ann hesitated, before conceding

“I’ve always trusted your judgement, Ryuji, if you’re saying that Akira selflessly saved your life, that you’d support him, I don’t see why I shouldn’t either, I know I don’t envy being nominated to be a leader, so if Akira wants to take charge… I support it”. Everyone turned to Morgana, who had been shamefully silent, before relenting.

“I guess if he’s as good as you say he is…  _ and _ that you don’t want to be the leader… Alright, it’s unanimous, Akira, you’ll be the leader of The Phantom Thieves”. Akira smirked and bowed

“Well why thank you everyone, I’m so humbled to be given this position-” Ryuji cut in, smiling wider than ever

“Yeah, yeah, you lanky bastard, don’t go rubbing it in”. Akira felt a smile make its way up to his cheeks, and he chuckled

“Way too late Ryu, I’m already in the clouds!”. Ann joined the duo, and they were too busy laughing at each other to see Morgana fuming at the sight.

_ ‘No one gets to talk to him like that, this oaf doesn’t care about Ryuji like  _ **_I_ ** _ do, no one could ever feel the same way, nowhere near as passionate, but it’s okay, Ryuji is just blinded by some plain old thing, once I become human again, then he’ll dump Akira completely, just you wait Akira, I’ll sweep the rug from beneath your feet!’ _ . 

They parted their separate ways for the day, intending to send the card the next day. 

It was a success, the card had done the trick, and now they were prepared to steal the treasure from Kamoshida. Morgana had been all smug about how good they both were, how good  _ Ryuji _ had been, and as expected, Ryuji deflected the compliments. Akira was disgusted at this level of affection, confused as to how anyone could even stand it. For once, Akira was regretting not taking in Morgana when he had the chance, what the hell was happening at night in the Sakamoto residence? Akira felt as though no answer was the best one.

While in the palace, the lack of guards was eerie, but Ryuji and Morgana brushed it off as Kamoshida sending the guards elsewhere to try and catch them. Akira was a bit frustrated, he wanted to try out some of his new powers, but he decided that he’d most likely have to battle Kamoshidas shadow, so maybe it was for the best that he didn’t fight everything he could see. Getting the treasure was uncomfortably easy, so it was no surprise when Kamoshida appeared, stealing the treasure, and every fiber of Akira’s being was thrust into a volcano. Controlling himself, he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked to the rest of his team, and they all nodded, ready to fight Kamoshida. But like everything, Akira couldn’t put a bullet in Kamoshida, instead, he was lulled into some faux justification for the sexual and physical abuse of defenseless children, which nearly made Akira laugh, he remembered slamming some kid into a wall for the sake of competition, but he dare not let the memory slip in what was supposed to be a severely somber moment. At the end of it, they had been duped, as Kamoshida transformed into a truly wicked creature, the fight had begun. With several arms, and volleyball slaves at his disposal, taking down Kamoshida wasn’t easy. It took 5 minutes to grind his health down, the only indication was him hunching over. Akira and the gang considered this a sign of an imminent victory for The Phantom Thieves. But all was for naught, Kamoshida turned cannibal and ate a woman from within a chalice, which would usually disgust Akira, but considering all that progress had been reversed in a few seconds, it was certain he’d do something even worse to Kamoshida, so it evened itself out he supposed. Ryuji looked at the crown, then at his teammates.

“Hey guys, I bet we can put Kamoshida into a real pickle if we steal that treasure from him!” Akira gave him a look that screamed  _ ‘oh my god I love you so much!’ _ and nodded.

“Ryuji you wonderful bastard, that might be the best thing I’ve heard from you! Alright Mona, get out of here and steal it!” Morgana protested, volunteering Ann, and it was taking so long that Kamoshida got tired of waiting and made a swipe at them with a knife, hitting Akira.

“For gods sake! One of you go damn it!” Akira and Ryuji shouted in unison. Ann felt her face go red, as did Morgana and he sheepishly ran off to hide behind a pillar, waiting for the right time to strike. Akira felt a personal grievance, and took every chance to hit Kamoshida, while Ryuji tried to heal Akira, and Ann used her magical abilities. Morgana had gotten into place and was now ready to strike at the crown. With a deep breath, Morgana assured himself that he had the willpower to carry out such a vital task

_ ‘Now let me show you how useful I am, Ryuji’ _ .

Morgana jumped, slamming his sword into the back of the crown, forcing it off of Kamoshida’s head, and on the ground in front of them. Ryuji took to safe guarding the crown while Morgana returned, and Akira felt even more motivated, but this time, he and Ann switched their sights to the chalice that could still ruin their plans. Kamoshida didn’t even seem able to retaliate, which was fine by him. Akira never had an issue with kicking people down while they begged for mercy, just like stealing candy from a baby, which he had, rather conveniently for the purposes of the metaphor, also done before. The Chalice was strong, but the will of a boy like Akira was always destined to outlast the cup. The cup fell before all of them, and Kamoshidea cried out in despair, and simply stopped attempting  _ anything _ . Kamoshida succumbed to his despair, and returned to his original form. Akira snatched Kamoshidas crown before he could, and Kamoshida looked like a wild animal, looking between a cliff, and the pack of hungry wolves threatening to leap at it. Then, he began begging

“P-please! Please don’t kill me!” Ann scoffed

“You’re looking just like Shiho, except she didn’t have a choice, you forced her to jump, yet you want my understanding?!” Summoning Carmen, she hurled Agi at, but missed him by a foot. Everyone looked to her in shock, but Akira smirked, withdrawing his pistol, he aimed it at Kamoshida and said to Ann

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,  _ you are through! _ ” He redirected his statement at Kamoshida, aiming for his head, but a hand redirected his aim at the ceiling. Akira glared at the owner of the hand, Ryuji, who shook his head.

“After everything Ann’s been through… She should get the honors”. Akira was getting tested to his bullshit limit, and in a hushed tone, he asked

“Why does it matter  _ who _ does it? We all have a reason to cap this bastard, what difference does it make where his death comes from?”. Morgana jumped up and down, gathering the attention of the two boys

“Hey! Listen to Ryuji! He’s got a point! And you better respect it!” Akira gave his hardest and strongest glare, but Morgana didn’t seem to be affected by it. Finally, Akira relented, deciding that he would die anyways, and that it didn’t really matter. But just as he went to accept a temporary loss, the whole palace shook. 

“Guys! What’s going on?!” Ann cried, and when they all looked up, they saw the Ann waving at them from the other side of the room. They looked to where Kamoshida  _ should _ have been, but only saw that he was gone, empty space where he should have been kneeling. They all ran over to her, and they ran out of the crumbling castle, barely making it out of the Palace.

Once outside of the world, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana cheered for their victory, but Akira was confused

“I looked away from him for one second and the palace goes crumbling down, what even happened?!” Akira shouted, out of frustration. Ann beamed a smile and said

“Kamoshida returned to his real self! I think the disappearance of the ruler,  _ AND _ the treasure must’ve triggered that whole thing!”. Akira had never been so confused in his entire life

“Returned to his real… Wait! Did you seriously let him go?!” Ann nodded with a satisfied expression

“WHY?!” Akira cried out, as if horrified from what he was being told. Ann shrugged

“If he died because we killed his shadow, how else would he be judged?”. Akira, in a desperate attempt to convince the girl, cried out

“By the FUCKING DEVIL!”. Ann just smiled and Morgana piped up

“Well I for one think that that choice was a great one Ann!”. Akira didn’t like the fact that this cat was trying to get one over on him, but he knew there was no way he could reverse the decision, unless he mastered time itself. But when Ryuji piped up

“I’m sure it was the right one, if we killed him arbitrarily, we’d just be a gang of murderous thugs, no better than Kamoshida”. Akira didn’t feel so mad about the decision, and he didn’t quite know why that was.

“... Okay”. Akira relented, he found himself without energy, and decided that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t change a thing. They disbanded for the day, to wait for Kamoshida to have a change of heart, or die, Akira decided either would be fine as long as the man paid in some way. 


	3. Where Everything That Could Go Wrong, Did Go Wrong

A few days later, while sleeping, Akira was awaken by a text message on his phone. It had come in through the newly created Phantom Thieves Group Chat

_ ‘Ryuji with Mona here, Mona says there’s something Metaverse related you guys have gotta see, meet up tomorrow after school?’ _ . Ann agreed immediately, excited to explore this new facet of her life, and Akira found that disagreeing yielded no results he’d have liked, so, determined not to be left in the dust and abandoned by his team, he slugged his way up the stairwell come monday afternoon. Stressed and annoyed, he finally made it out into the hot sun, where he found everyone at the hideout, waiting for him.

“Hey there leader! Took ya long enough”. Ryuji shouted out, but Akira paid his enthusiasm no mind, ever since he had given in so easily. He stared right at Morgana

“Why did you have us come here?” Akira asked the cat, and Morgana explained

“Well, it might be better if I show you guys, come on, we need to get out of here though, follow Ryuji, he knows what’s up”. With a huge grin, Ryuji led the group to the subway station just outside of their school. When the group got to a rather desolate spot, away from the crowds, Morgana popped out of Ryuj’s bag and told Ryuji what to do

“Alright Ryuji! Pull up that Metaverse app!” Ryuji smiled brightly at the cat and gave him a thumbs up

“On it… What now?” Morgana smiled and said

“Alright, Ryuji, type in ‘Mementos’”. Just after Ryuji hit enter, they were transported to this ‘Mementos’ Morgana had told them about.

it was introduced by Morgana as the palace of the general public. It was also there that it was revealed that Morgana could spontaneously turn into a car, which confused, interested and disgusted Akira, but the other two seemed to love it…  _ especially _ Ryuji.

“Woah, these seats feel nice, what’re they made out of Mona?” Morgana snickered before teasingly replying

“Mwehehe, you won’t get it out of me that easily, you’ll just have to guess”. Making Ryuji groan, but he was smiling through the whole thing 

“So… Who’s riding Mona?” Akira asked  _ ‘And there goes Ryuji’s oxygen supply’ _ . Akira cherished the moment of Ryuji’s eyes bulging out of his head, before he coughed to cover up his thoughts on the choice of words.

“I-I think you meant ‘driving’” Akira let out a gasp

“Oh, yeah, of course, just a bit tired, but seriously, who?” Ryuji felt his face heating up, but Ann spoke first

“I would crash us immediately, I’m out”. Ryuji nodded as well

“I’m pretty sure I’m in no state to drive anything, was never one for cars, what about you Joker?” Akira could swear he heard a sigh of disappointment from Morgana upon hearing Ryuji’s decline for the offer of chaufer of the Phantom Thieves. Upon realizing he had been asked, Akira nodded and said

“Fine, I’ll bite, so where are we going Mona?” Mona smiled and said

“We’re looking to go down a few floors, and looking for the shadow of some shady bully, they’re getting more and more deranged, we gotta stop him!” Ryuji fired off as well

“Bullying isn’t cool, we definitely gotta step in before things get worse, no one should have to suffer like that, especially not helpless kids”. Softly, almost so soft no one else could hear it, Morgana sighed dreamily, muttering

“Wow, so brave and strong, so noble, we’re so lucky to have someone as strong and gorgeous as Skull”. Akira glared at the road and yelled

“Can it cat! Let’s go already” Morgana glared at the scenery, practically the only substitute for Akira, but didn’t offer any further reply, as they sped off towards their destination. A thought came to Ryuji

“Wait, shouldn’t we go on foot? A van probably makes us way more visible”. Ann thought about an answer, and Akira ignored the question, just wanting to ram Morgana into some tough-bodied shadow. Morgana, however answered the question

“What a great question Skull! Well, we  _ are _ in the palace of Tokyo, so just a measly 4 intruders won’t make a difference in the security level, it’d have to be something huge in order to draw attention to us”. Ryuji laughed at the answer

“Cool! That makes this easy for us!” Morgana hummed in agreement. They came up to the portal to the target, it looked like a vortex of some sort, Morgana spoke to the gang

“Well, this is where we’ll find our bully, everyone ready to head in?” Everyone made some sort of noise of confirmation, and without further delay, Akira drove forward.

When they fought the bully, although he had taken a weaker form than other monsters they had fought in the palace just days ago, his health was draining slowly. Akira took out his model handgun, and fired it several times into the shadow being. Incapacitating it, and opening it to negotiations, and an all out attack…  _ Especially _ the all out attack. As they all darted inwards to hold up the enemy, it cried out for mercy, but Akira was having none of it, giving his teammates all a nod, before they all darted at the enemy, crashing and slashing into the enemy several times before blood poured from the monster form, shrinking back into the human-shadow. Akira, unable to stop himself, pulled out his gun before firing a single round into the shadows head, dropping the shadow like a sack of hammers, before it faded into dust. Everyone looked at Akira like he’d just grown a conjoined twin right then and there

“Joker! What the hell was that?!” Morgana cried out, clearly furious at Akira’s choice to kill the shadow

“Dude! That was overkill! That bully was defeated!” Ryuji shouted at him

“I know he was horrible… But that’s gotta be crossing a line, Joker”. Akira didn’t like how he was being treated, he was their  _ leader _ , not some lackey

“ _ I _ make the orders,  _ I _ lead us, don’t get it twisted, bullies are scum, each and every one of them should be burned to the ground”. His voice was oddly cold, sending chills down their spines. Morgana and Ryuji had witnessed Akira acting cold, but now it felt like the room itself decreased in temperature, it scared Morgana, already facing Akira’s worse side once, concerned Ryuji, and was unsettling to Ann. Slightly edging away from his partner, Ryuji cautioningly asked

“Joker… Dude, is everything okay?” With little warning, Akira whipped around, the only way to describe the way their leader, was feral. He had this crazy look in his eyes, his eyes were squinted, as if he was severely pissed off. But as soon as he noticed his teammates jump, he seemed to resume his former appearance, shrugging it off

“I’m fine, just… Don’t like bullies, how about we leave it at that?” His feral look was perfectly flipped, he had his usual charismatic smirk, his eyes were relaxed, and he motioned for the rest of the team to join him in leaving. On the way back out of Mementos, no one spoke, the idle chit chat between the 4 had diminished, replaced by this tense silence. Ann and Ryuji, communicated with their eyes, both understanding what the other was saying. Morgana’s bus vehicle was more strict than Akira was use to, the fur lining the seats felt like pins and needles, the tail exhaust pipe was rigged, not freely wagging in the air, and everyone treated breathing like the slightest sound would make them a target for Akira’s handgun. Everyone was internally theorizing about the clearly unstable boy in the driver's seat. They didn’t have long, as they arrived back at the entrance of Mementos, and Joker made the decision to pull them out for the day.

_ 6PM _

_ Ann Takamaki has added Ryuji Sakamato to “PT W/O J” _

_ Ryuji has joined the chat _

_ R: Yo, what’s up Ann? _

_ A: We need to talk about you-know-what _

_ R: Yeah, I suppose we really do _

_ A: Did you see the way he reacted? _

_ R: Yeah, honestly, it scared me, I’ve seen him act cold blooded, but that was something else _

_ A: That’s not the only thing… Something’s been eating at me about him _

_ A: Does Joker seem… A bit off to you? _

_ R: The guy obsessed with murdering a teacher and the same person who had a breakdown when you spared him? Not at all _

_ A: Hardy har, seriously though, you think Joker has some… Extra baggage?  _

_ R: Now that you mention it, he looked like he had lost his mind when dealing with that bully, and the way he spoke… Oh, and Mona wanted to let you know he agrees with what we’re thinking _

_ A: I’m so sorry I forgot about him! Is he okay?! He seemed really scared when Akira snapped at us! _

_ R: Mona insists that he was fine, and totally NOT scared, lol _

Ryuji suddenly got a text from Akira

_ A: Yo, we haven’t been around each other that much, wanna go see the Cake Knight Rises? It’s in theaters now, kinda bored tbh _

Ryuji felt panic barrage his chest, his heart was pounding like crazy, Morgana caught on to Ryuji’s expression and tried to ease his internal suffering

“H-hey! You don’t need to worry, Akira’s just in a bad place, he has some stuff going on inside himself, but he’s our friend, and he needs our support, it’s fine Ryu, trust me, it’s fine”

Ryuji felt himself exhaling softly, and nodding, his heart stopping rapidly thumping, and he decided to text Ann

_ R: Ann, Joker just texted me _

_ A: Really? What does it say??? _

_ R: It’s not that important Ann, geez _

_ R: Anyways, he wants to hang out… After what happened today, should I go? _

_ A: Of course! He needs us now more than ever! I bet he just needs some time with another person, trust me, it’s fine, we should be there for him _

_ R: Are you sure you’re not crushing on him? _

_ A: I swear if you even float that idea one more time… _

_ R: Alright, alright! Just joking, I guess my night has been decided then, Let’s talk more about that stuff tomorrow though, yeah? _

_ A: Yeah, no prob, let me know how it goes though! _

_ R: Yeah, yeah, ttyl _

Ryuji swapped his IM over to Akira and texted back

_ R: Sorry I was late to respond, still open to hang out? _

Akira responded immediately

_ A: Yeah _

_ A: Come over, I’m waiting _

_ R: Cool it man, where am I even going? _

_ A: Cafe Leblanc in Yongen Jaya _

_ R: That… That’s not a movie theater _

_ A: Have a little faith, besides, theaters make it seem like we’re dating anyways. I went out and bought the film _

_ R: In the 5 or so minutes it took for me to respond? _

_ A:  _

_ R: _

_ A: _

_ R: _

_ A: I am no longer taking questions _

_ R: Fine, I’m on the line to Yongen anyways, too late to stop now _

_ A: Exactly _

Ryuji stopped outside the Cafe, peering in, he saw a young brunette boy sipping coffee, and the man who presumably served the coffee to the young boy, casually chatting with one another, aside from those two, the shop was vacant

_ R: Um, where are you? _

_ A: Are you outside? Come in Talk to the guy behind the bar, Sojiro, he’ll tell you where to go _

_ R: You can’t? _

_ A: I’m preparing stuff, can’t talk rn _

_ R: You are now _

_ R:… Hello? _

_ R: Fine, I’m coming in _

Ryuji opened the door to the desolate coffee shop, smelling a pleasant mixture of curry and coffee. The two looked up, the older man, Sojiro, chuckled and shook his head, like Ryuji was some kind of inside joke

“Akira’s in the attic, head up there” Ryuji nodded, and desperate to not be in the limelight, speedily made his way to the far end of the shop, just past the bathrooms, where he saw a set of steps leading upwards. Upon entering the dragon's lair, he saw Akira, in sweat pants, but shirtless, recoiling from the shock of seeing his first true friend, half naked, he covered his eyes

“S-sorry, guess I should’a knocked, ha ha ha” but Akira wasn’t shocked, in fact, he was smirking

“It’s all good man, this is just how I am” Ryuji was shocked

“Y-you’re just comfortable showing off your chest like that?” Akira was still acting just as smooth as ever when he quipped back

“Not like I’m a girl, what’re you so shocked about?” Frustrated, Ryuji, raised his voice

“Because you’re flashing me man!” Ryuji wasn’t so mad that Akira had flashed him, it was how nonfussed he was about it, after seeing the guy go crazy for a few moments, it all felt so fake, now that he saw Akira at his weakest. Ryuji wondered if he’d find the same, well thought out, smooth, composed Akira if Ryuji could read his mind. “L-look dude, you got the film?” Suddenly, Akira was silent, and it looked like Akira was blushing, that made Ryuji worry about why he was truly invited over. “...You never had it, did you?” Akira was at a loss of words, seemingly tripping over himself to justify lying to Ryuji about the facts of the situation.

“Uh… I, um… I-I had… No” Akira decided to save himself the embarrassment and fessed up to the fact that he lied. Ryuji sighed, but put on a smile and said

“Dude, if you wanted my amazing company, you didn’t need to lie!” Ryuji kind of relished in seeing Akira acting like a regular teen for once, Ryuji noticed the retro gaming console next to the TV, and looked at Akira with a smirk. “Want to get your ass kicked in some games?” Never one to deny a challenge, Akira reciprocated the smirk and said

“Prepare to get crushed!”

_ A: Ryuji, report! _

_ R: Geez, Ann, it’s 12:00 in the morning, let a guy sleep! _

_ A: Now is not the time for sleep, I need answers! _

_ R: Why’re you so invested? _

_ A: I made a bet _

_ R: WHAT?! _

_ A: Honestly, it’s perfect _

_ R: What’d you even bet on anyways? _

_ A: If I win I’ll tell you, now spill! _

_ R: Fine, so Akira invited me to the movies _

_ A: Yes _

_ R: He ended up inviting me to his house to watch the movie _

_ A: Alright _

_ R: He didn’t actually have the movie _

_ A: Hmm _

_ R: Oh, and he was half naked _

_ A: WHAT?! _

_ R: Yeah, sweat pants on, shirt off, practically presenting himself to me, wonder what the hell he was thinking _

_ A:... OMFG _

_ R: ??? _

_ A: You’re joking, right? _

_ R: WDYM? _

_ A: You all are hopeless, see you tomorrow _

_ R: Don’t you dare go! What the hell is that supposed to mean?! _

_ R: Takamaki! _


End file.
